culturefandomcom-20200222-history
The Chills
The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand. The band is essentially the continuing project of singer/songwriter Martin Phillipps, who is the group's sole constant member—for a time in the 1990s, the act was billed as Martin Phillipps & The Chills. In the 1980s and 1990s, The Chills had some significant chart success in their homeland, and were a cult band in other parts of the world as one of the earliest proponents of the Dunedin Sound. History Early years and first break-up (1980-1983) Singer-songwriter Martin Phillipps formed The Chills in 1980 with his sister Rachel Phillipps on keyboards and Jane Dodd on bass after the demise of his punk band, The Same.artist=the chills|bio=true}} The Chills' bio on Billboard.com Also included in the initial line-up were guitarist Peter Gutteridge and drummer Alan Haig. Phillipps' earlier band, the Same, had formed in 1978 and performed alongside punk bands Toy Love and The Enemy. The Chills were initially signed by Flying Nun Records and were one of the four bands recorded for the Dunedin Double EP in 1982. By this time, the band consisted of Martin Phillipps, Alan Haig, keyboard player Frazer Batts and bassist Terry Moore. One of the tracks recorded, "Kaleidoscope World" became a signature song for the band's early years. Rachel Phillipps returned (replacing Batts) and Martyn Bull took over from Haig on drums in time for the band's first single "Rolling Moon", which was a chart hit in 1983. However, Bull's sudden illness caused the band to then take a year off. Reformation and international success (1984-1992) After Bull's death in July 1983 (from leukaemia), the Chills changed their name to A Wrinkle in Time, as Phillipps was initially unwilling to continue performing under a name associated with his late friend. The name change was brief, though they did perform live under the alternative name. No recordings were released as A Wrinkle in Time. Once the Chills name had been re-established, from this point forward The Chills were essentially a solo project spearheaded by Martin Phillipps, the band's lead singer and only songwriter. Band personnel turnover was near-constant, with The Chills going through over 20 different line-up changes with Phillipps as the only constant member. Members of the band from 1984 on have included Terry Moore, Alan Haig, Peter Allison, David Kilgour, Steven Schayer, Martin Kean, Justin Harwood, Caroline Easther, Jimmy James Stephenson, Jillian Dempster among others. Several of these musicians went on to further success in bands ranging from The Verlaines to Luna. The band's first post-Wrinkle In Time release was the 1984 single "Pink Frost", which became the band's biggest hit to that time. It was initially recorded in 1982 by the three-piece band of Martin Phillipps, Terry Moore and Martyn Bull, before receiving new overdubs in 1984. This single was followed by the single (and #12 hit) "Doledrums", then a 6-song EP called The Lost EP. This EP did not feature any of the band's previous or future singles, and itself peaked at #4 on the New Zealand singles charts in 1985. The Chills undertook their first European tour that same year. In 1986, the band issued the minor international hit "I Love My Leather Jacket", recorded at The Point Studio, by Danny Hyde.Danny Hyde brainwashed.com - Retrieved: 14 December 2006 "I Love My Leather Jacket" was dedicated to late drummer, Bull, who had bequeathed the said item of clothing to Phillipps in his will. The Chills finally released their first album, Kaleidoscope World, in 1986; the album was a compilation of various previously released singles, EP tracks and songs from the Dunedin Double EP. The band released their first proper album, Brave Words in 1987. The band spent most of 1987 (February through mid-December) promoting the album by touring Europe, interspersed with 4 July dates in New York and Boston. A full-fledged North American tour occurred in the fall of 1988; tour dates would be a regular part of the band's life for the next several years. In 1990, the band were signed to a worldwide record deal with their music appearing on the Warner Brothers imprint Slash Records in North America. Their 1990 album Submarine Bells included their biggest international hit, the whimsically titled "Heavenly Pop Hit". The tune was also a hit in the US, as it charted at #17 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart; it remains their only American chart appearance. The group's follow-up album, 1992's Soft Bomb, featured a totally different Chills line-up (save for Phillipps), and spun off the hit "The Male Monster From The Id". Second reformation (1995-present) , January 2013]] Phillipps announced the dissolution of the Chills after the Soft Bomb tour, and joined David Kilgour in a loosely organized covers band known as The Pop Art Toasters, which released a self-titled EP in 1994. Shortly thereafter, though, the 'Toasters dissolved, and Phillipps put together another Chills line-up and resumed gigging. This seemingly constant turnover of personnel is often cited as one of several reasons for the band's lack of consistent "saleability", and is referred to by the local music scene as "the curse of the Chills". The "curse" struck again with the recording of the album Sunburnt in England, in the summer of 1995. Two band members were refused entry into the UK, so session musicians had to be recruited at the last moment. Dave Mattacks of Fairport Convention and XTC's Dave Gregory provided drum and bass work for the album, with Phillipps the only other credited musician (aside from guest keyboards played by producer Craig Leon). This album was issued in early 1996 under the group name Martin Phillipps and The Chills. After that the band again split, with Phillipps appearing in another one of David Kilgour's bands, the Heavy Eights. Nevertheless, Phillipps continued to recruit new Chills members for live shows, and played at least a few shows as The Chills every year from 1997 on. For much of the late 1990s, though, Phillipps was laid low with hepatitis C, a side effect of drug addiction problems. He released an album of solo home demos (Sketch Book: Volume One) in 1999; the demos themselves dated from between 1988 and 1995. In 2000, a 3-CD box set of Chills live tracks, demos, radio sessions and rarities appeared, entitled Secret Box. In 2004, an 8-song Chills mini-album called Stand By was issued, the first all-new Chills material in 9 years. Phillipps' album liner notes promised: "I am preparing to take the band in quite a new direction on the next album. And on that we will begin work shortly." Despite Phillipps' claim, however, no new Chills album appeared for over a decade. In May 2010 the band played two shows in Australia, their first shows outside New Zealand since 1996. Three years later, after another 9-year hiatus from the recording studio, a single newly recorded Chills track called "Molten Gold" was issued. The track was made available as a digital release only, and was released on Martin Phillipps 50th birthday (2 July 2013). In October 2015, the band issued Silver Bullets, their first album length release in 19 years. Discography Albums Compilations EPs Singles Band member timeline ImageSize = width:850 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1980 till:01/01/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:guit value:green legend:Guitar id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:lines value:black legend:Studio albums and EPs Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1980 BarData = bar:Martin text:"Martin Phillipps" bar:PeterG text:"Peter Gutteridge" bar:Steven text:"Steven Schayer" bar:PeterH text:"Peter Holsapple" bar:DaveG text:"Dave Gregory " bar:Rachel text:"Rachel Phillipps" bar:Fraser text:"Fraser Batts" bar:PeterA text:"Peter Allison" bar:Andrew text:"Andrew Todd" bar:Jillian text:"Jillian Dempster" bar:Lisa text:"Lisa Mednick" bar:JamesD text:"James Dickson" bar:Jane text:"Jane Dodd" bar:Terry text:"Terry Moore" bar:MartinK text:"Martin Kean" bar:Justin text:"Justin Harwood" bar:Rodney text:"Rodney Haworth" bar:Alan text:"Alan Haig" bar:Martyn text:"Martyn Bull" bar:Caroline text:"Caroline Easther" bar:JamesS text:"James Stephenson" bar:Mauro text:"Mauro Ruby" bar:Earl text:"Earl Robertson" bar:Graig text:"Graig Mason" bar:DaveM text:"Dave Mattacks" bar:Todd text:"Todd Knudson" bar:Erica text:"Erica Scally" bar:Oli text:"Oli Wilson" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Martin from:01/01/1980 till:01/07/1982 color:guit bar:Martin from:01/11/1983 till:end color:guit bar:PeterG from:01/01/1980 till:01/12/1980 color:guit bar:PeterH from:01/11/1991 till:01/04/1992 color:guit bar:Steven from:01/06/1992 till:01/11/1992 color:guit bar:DaveG from:01/06/1995 till:01/07/1996 color:guit bar:Rachel from:01/01/1980 till:01/05/1981 color:keys bar:Rachel from:01/05/1982 till:01/06/1982 color:keys bar:Fraser from:01/09/1981 till:01/05/1982 color:keys bar:PeterA from:01/11/1983 till:01/09/1986 color:keys bar:Andrew from:01/09/1986 till:01/07/1990 color:keys bar:Jillian from:01/11/1990 till:01/02/1991 color:keys bar:Lisa from:01/06/1991 till:01/11/1992 color:keys bar:JamesD from:01/09/1999 till:01/01/2005 color:keys bar:JamesD from:30/12/2004 till:end color:bass bar:Jane from:01/01/1980 till:01/05/1981 color:bass bar:Terry from:01/09/1981 till:01/07/1982 color:bass bar:Terry from:01/11/1984 till:01/03/1986 color:bass bar:Terry from:01/11/1991 till:01/11/1992 color:bass bar:MartinK from:01/11/1983 till:01/09/1984 color:bass bar:Justin from:01/09/1986 till:01/07/1990 color:bass bar:Rodney from:01/09/1999 till:30/12/2004 color:bass bar:Alan from:01/01/1980 till:01/05/1982 color:drums bar:Alan from:01/11/1983 till:01/03/1986 color:drums bar:Martyn from:01/05/1982 till:01/08/1982 color:drums bar:Caroline from:01/11/1986 till:01/06/1988 color:drums bar:JamesS from:01/07/1988 till:01/07/1990 color:drums bar:Mauro from:01/11/1991 till:01/04/1992 color:drums bar:Earl from:01/06/1992 till:01/09/1992 color:drums bar:Graig from:01/09/1992 till:01/11/1992 color:drums bar:DaveM from:01/06/1995 till:01/07/1996 color:drums bar:Todd from:01/09/1999 till:end color:drums bar:Erica from:01/01/2005 till:end color:keys bar:Oli from:01/01/2009 till:end color:keys LineData = at:07/01/1985 color:black layer:back at:07/01/1987 color:black layer:back at:01/03/1990 color:black layer:back at:19/03/1992 color:black layer:back at:12/06/1996 color:black layer:back at:28/06/2004 color:black layer:back at:23/10/2015 color:black layer:back References External links * The Chills website * The Chills official Facebook page * Twitter - @thechills Further reading * Davey, T. & Puschmann, H. (1996) Kiwi rock. Dunedin: Kiwi Rock Publications. ISBN 0-473-03718-1 * Dix, J. (1988) Stranded in paradise: New Zealand rock'n'roll 1955-1988. Wellington: Paradise Publications. ISBN 0-473-00638-3 * Eggleton, D. (2003) Ready to fly: The story of New Zealand rock music. Nelson, NZ: Craig Potton Publishing. ISBN 1-877333-06-9 * Shepherd, R. (2016) In love with these times. Auckland: Harper Collins New Zealand. ISBN 9781775491262 Category:APRA Award winners Category:Creation Records artists Category:New Zealand rock music groups Category:New Zealand alternative rock groups Category:New Zealand indie rock groups Category:Flying Nun Records artists Category:Dunedin Sound musical groups *